WEBVTT JENNIFER BAILEYSCONTINUES OUR STATE OF ADDICTIONSERIES BY EXAMINING WHAT THISMETH RESURGENCE HAS TO DO WITHTHE HEROINE PROBLEM.JENNIFER?JENNIFER: JEFFERSONTOWN POLICECHIEF KEN HATMAKER SAYS IT COMESDOWN TO THE AMOUNT OF ATTENTIONHEROIN IS GETTING.WHILE LAWMAKERS AND POLICE FOCUSON THE OPIATE EPIDEMIC, DRUGDEALERS ARE SWITCHING THEIRFOCUS TO METH.>> WE MAKE RUNS ON IT DAILY ANDOFTENTIMES YOU'LL FIND THOSETHAT HAVE HEROIN ALSO HAVE METHIN THEIR POSSESSION.THEY HAVE BOTH.ONE TAKES THEM DOWN, THE OTHERONE BRINGS THEM BACK UP. JENNIFER: ONE OF THOSE RUNS WASTO THIS HOME ON GLEESON LANENEAR JEFFERSONTOWN HIGH SCHOOL.POLICE SEARCHED THE HOME AFTERRECEIVING MULTIPLE TIPS ABOUTPOSSIBLE DRUG DEALING.>> I FIGURED THEY WERE PROBABLYDEALING DRUGS.THERE WAS ALWAYS DIFFERENTPEOPLE COMING IN AND OUT OF THEHOUSE.YOU NEVER SAW THE SAME PERSONTWICE IN THE DRIVEWAY.THERE WAS JUST PEOPLE AT ALLHOURS OF THE DAY COMING IN ANDOUT.WE KIND OF FIGURED, BUT WEDIDN'T HAVE ANY PROOF. JENNIFER: POLICE ARRESTED PEOPLESIX AND RECOVERED ABOUT THREEOUNCES OF MASS -- OUNCES OF METH.POLICE EVEN FOUND THESE GUNSWITH THE SERIAL NUMBERSSCRATCHED OFF SO THEY COULDN'TBE TRACKED TO FIND OUT IFTHEY'RE STOLEN OR USED INPREVIOUS CRIMES. >> IT'S ALL ABOUT GETTING THATNEXT HIGH.YOU COMBINE THAT ATTITUDE, THATMENTALITY WITH FIREARMS IT'S A, BAD RECIPE. JENNIFER: POLICE CHIEF KENHATMAKER SAYS THE METH THEY'RESEEING NOW IS NOT HOMEMADE ANDIS MUCH MORE DANGEROUS.>> THIS IS CRYSTAL METH MADE INFACTORIES IN MEXICO, SOUTH OFTHE BORDER.THIS IS PURE METH AT ITS FINEST.JENNIFER: AS THE DRUG CYCLEGROWS AND CHANGES, CHIEFHATMAKER SAYS IT'S GOING TO TAKEPOLICE AND NEIGHBORS WORKINGTOGETHER TO FIGHT THE PROBLEM.>> THE FOOT TRAFFIC, THE VEHICLETRAFFIC TO AND FROM THAT HOUSEWAS NOTICEABLE AND WHEN YOU HAVE, MULTIPLE PEOPLE WORK WITH YOUIT ENABLES US TO DO OUR JOBS NOT, -- JOBS.NOT ONLY WE NEED THEINFORMATION, BUT IT GIVES OUROFFICERS THE CONFIDENCE TO KNOWTHEY'RE SUPPORTED AND TRUSTED BYTHOSE TAXPAYERS IN THATNEIGHBORHOOD. JENNIFER: THE CHIEF SAYS THATWAS REINFORCED WHEN NEIGHBORSSTOOD OUTSIDE AND CLAPPED ASTHEY ARRESTED THE PEOPLE INSIDETHE HOME TUESDAY.AMANDA BINGHAM SAYS IT'S A BIGRELIEF TO HAVE HER NEIGHBORHOODBACK TO NORMAL.>> WE'RE A LOT SAFER NOW. JENNIFER: THEY ALL FEEL A LOTMORE SAFE.IF YOU SEE SUSPICIOUS OR ILLEGALACTIVITY YOU CAN CALL THE, JEFFERSONTOWN POLICE ANDREMAIN ANONYMOUS.AS FOR THE PEOPLE ARRESTED ATSIX THE HOME ON GLEESON LANE,THEY WERE ALL CHARGED WITHTRAFFICKING METH AND MARIJUANA.

Jeffersontown police Chief Ken Hatmaker said the popularity of meth comes down to the amount of attention heroin is getting. While lawmakers and police focus on the opiate epidemic, drug dealers are switching their focus to meth.

"We make runs on it daily, and oftentimes you'll find those that have heroin also have meth in their possession," Hatmaker said. "One takes them down, the other one brings them back up."

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One of those runs was to a home on Gleeson Lane near Jeffersontown High School. Police searched the home after receiving multiple tips about possible drug dealing. Six people were arrested, and authorities said they recovered nearly three ounces of meth and several guns with the serial numbers filed off so they couldn't be tracked.

"It's all about getting that next high," Hatmaker said. "You combine that attitude, that mentality, with firearms, (and) it's a bad recipe."

"I figured they were probably dealing drugs," neighbor Amanda Nido Bingham said. "There was always different people coming in and out of the house. You never saw the same person twice in the driveway. There was just people at all hours of the day coming in and out. We kind of figured, but we didn't have any proof."

Hatmaker said the meth they're seeing now is not homemade and is much more dangerous.

"This is crystal meth made in factories in Mexico, south of the border," Hatmaker said. "This is pure meth at its finest."

As the drug cycle grows and changes, Hatmaker say it's going to take police and neighbors working together to fight the problem.

"The foot traffic, the vehicle traffic to and from that house was noticeable, and when you have multiple people work with you, it enables us to do our jobs," Hatmaker said. "Not only do we need the information, but it gives our officers the confidence to know they're supported and trusted by those taxpayers in that neighborhood."

The chief said that was reinforced Tuesday when neighbors stood outside and clapped as they arrested the people inside the home.

Bingham said it's a big relief to have her neighborhood back to normal. "We're a lot safer now," she said.

All six people arrested at the home on Gleeson Lane were charged with trafficking methamphetamine and marijuana.

If you see suspicious or illegal activity, you can anonymously call Jeffersontown Police.